Submission Guidelines
Tiny Seed Publishing is one of Starfish Bay Publishing’s two imprints, dedicated to publishing children’s picture books and board books. From 1 September 2025, Tiny Seed operates under a Traditional Publishing Programme and accepts submissions for children’s picture books only from solicited authors. If you’re interested in becoming a solicited author, please contact us at starfishbaypublishing@outlook.com.
About Our Traditional Publishing Process
We know traditional publishing can be complex—especially for new authors. Here’s what to expect once you sign a publishing agreement with Tiny Seed. The process usually takes 24 months to complete:
Step 1: Editing
After signing a publishing agreement, our editors will review the manuscript and provide feedback. In general, two editorial rounds will be required to ensure the book reaches its full potential. For each editorial round, our team can deliver a line-edited manuscript including comments. The author can use this feedback for their revision. In general, this process should be completed within two months. Once a story is to a satisfactory standard and the editorial process is complete, no further changes can be made. Only errors related to spelling and grammar can be highlighted and corrected after this process. All editorial rounds are free of charge.
Step 2: Contracting an illustrator
Once the editorial process is complete, we will begin sourcing a suitable illustrator. We believe it is essential to select an illustrator whose style complements the story. Working with illustrators from around the world, we carefully match each manuscript with the most fitting artistic style. We do not want to rush this process, which can take up to five months to complete.
Step 3: Illustrations
Authors should be aware that a professional illustrator is a co-creator of the picture book and will interpret the text in their own way. Once an illustration agreement is signed, our Art Director and art team will work closely with the illustrator to ensure a smooth process. Authors are not required to contribute to the illustration process, and we are unable to provide specific updates during this stage.
Step 4: Design
After receiving the final illustrations, our designer will begin preparing the layout. A full PDF of the picture book will be created. This process takes roughly one month to complete.
Step 5: Proofreading
After the layout has been finalised, we will need to proofread the book. We will provide authors with a full PDF of their book. Authors are not asked to participate in the proofreading process as this is looked after by our editors. Please note that only grammar and spelling mistakes can be changed during this process and there will be no further changes to the illustrations.
Step 6: Teacher Notes
Teacher notes are a valuable resource for educators, helping to create discussion and deepen awareness of the themes and characters in our books. We welcome our authors to assist in creating these notes. Teacher notes typically include questions about the themes or situations, as well as simple activities inspired by the book – everything to encourage learning through fun.
Step 7: Submission of new title information to our sales and distribution partners
When the above processes have been completed, we will set a publication date and submit the new title information to our sales and distribution partners. They require new title information five to eight months prior to publication.
Step 8: Printing
We usually begin printing a picture book five months before its publication date.
Step 9: Book sales and marketing
There is no need for our authors to promote their books themselves. We have sales agencies based in the US, UK, and Australia. Each has its own sales and marketing plans for our books. Our sales agents and distributors sell our books to bookshops (online and in-store), wholesalers, and library vendors. If you view the Sales and Distribution category on our website, you will gain more information on where our books will be sold.
Step 10: Selling subsidiary rights
In addition to selling and distributing books, we actively sell translation rights to non-English language publishers through foreign rights agents and international book fairs. This helps maximise the potential reach and readership of our titles.
Starfish Bay regularly exhibits at international book fairs, showcasing our titles to publishers from around the world. Translation rights are bought and sold at exhibitor stands, which will enable our stories to travel the world.
You can find us at Bologna Children’s Book Fair and Frankfurt Book Fair each year.